SSL devices generally use semiconductor light emitting diodes (“LEDs”), organic light-emitting diodes (“OLEDs”), and/or polymer light emitting diodes (“PLEDs”) as sources of illumination rather than electrical filaments, a plasma, or a gas. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional diagram of a portion of a conventional indium-gallium nitride (“InGaN”) LED 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the LED 10 includes a substrate 12 (e.g., silicon carbide, sapphire, gallium nitride, or silicon), an N-type gallium nitride (“GaN”) material 14, an InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (“MQWs”) 16, and a P-type GaN material 18 layered on one another in series. The LED 10 also includes a first contact 20 on the P-type GaN material 18 and a second contact 22 on the N-type GaN material 14.
According to conventional techniques, the N-type and/or P-type GaN materials 14 and 18 are typically formed as planar structures via epitaxial growth. The planar structures have limited surface areas and thus can limit the number of MQWs formed thereon. As a result, the LED 10 may have limited emission power output per unit surface area. Accordingly, several improvements to increase the emission output for a particular surface area of an LED may be desirable.